Irvine approves zoning for more housing over airport commission’s objections
Prompted by state housing mandates, the Irvine City Council voted to override the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission’s concerns over plans to add 15,000 homes near John Wayne Airport.
If council members didn’t pass the resolution during Tuesday’s meeting, the city risked missing a February 2025 deadline to update its long-term housing plans, which would subject Irvine to hefty fines, stripped permitting powers and other penalties from the state.
While the council did not deliberate before voting, Irvine resident Doug Elliott supported the move as he said that development near the airport was already intensive.
“We have high-rise office buildings [and] hotels,” Elliott added. “We have condos pretty much across the street from the airport and yet, supposedly, we can’t accommodate housing further out?”
Only Councilman Larry Agran voted against the override and a subsequent zoning change that would clear the way for high-density units to be built in the Irvine Business Complex that abuts the airport.
In June, the airport commission aired its objections, citing noise impacts and safety issues in noting the rezoning as “inconsistent” with the Airport Environs Land Use Plan, which sets guidelines for development and land use in surrounding areas.
The Irvine City Council first voted on Aug. 13 to move forward with overriding the airport commission’s determination while approving its broader general plan update, which included housing.
In addition to the Irvine Business Complex area, the update also eyed neighborhoods around the Spectrum and Great Park that could accommodate more than 57,000 future housing units.
“Unless we are absolutely committed to installing transit first and unless we are absolutely committed to addressing and providing affordable housing first, development of this magnitude is just unconscionable,” Agran said. “The spillover effects will be dramatic. We’re asked here to override all kinds of environmental concerns that have been identified [and] cannot be properly mitigated.”
Councilwoman Tammy Kim tangled with Agran’s stance and noted staff had put in three years of work on the general plan.
“We get into this Catch-22 … and then nothing gets done,” she argued.
Commissioners opposed a proposed apartment complex near JWA, saying residents would be subject to too much airplane noise. The Newport Beach City Council overruled them.
Since the August votes, government agencies traded letters over the airport commission’s objection to residential development planned near the airport.
“The city’s decision to introduce low to very-low income housing within the new residential zoning overlay fails to adequately address the principles of environmental justice,” wrote Matthew Friedman, a Caltrans senior aviation planner, in a Sept. 9 letter to an Irvine city official. “These communities are often more susceptible to adverse environmental conditions, including those associated with proximity to airports, such as noise and safety risks.”
Orange County cities have overridden the airport commission several times before in order to plan for or approve new housing.
In July, the Newport Beach City Council bypassed its concerns in giving the green light to a 282-unit apartment building near John Wayne Airport.
Santa Ana and Costa Mesa have also overridden the airport commission, according to Irvine’s staff report.
Councilman Mike Carroll sits on the airport commission but was absent during its vote to find the housing plan inconsistent.
On the dais, Carroll voted to override that objection alongside a supermajority of his Irvine council colleagues.
A second council vote at a future meeting is required before the zoning change becomes official.
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